It should be understood in the discussion that follows that references in this disclosure to uncontaminated cleaning liquid mean liquid which in the course of use will become contaminated to some low level or degree, particularly in relation to the dirty cleaning liquid referred to in the discussion. It should also be understood that the cleaning liquid referred to in this disclosure is frequently water or water combined with a detergent or other chemical cleaning agent. However, it should also be understood that the cleaning liquid may be predominantly a liquid chemical cleaning agent alone or in combination with one or more other chemical cleaning agents.
In most wash buckets that are not compartmentalized the initially clean wash liquid becomes dirty and contaminated each time the dirty mop or other cleaning device is squeezed or wrung to discharge its dirty wash liquid load. In cases where the mop or other cleaning device is immersed in the wash liquid without wringing out a dirty liquid load, the original wash liquid in the bucket quickly becomes dirty.
Also, buckets currently in use do not provide any means for limiting or eliminating mop contact with contaminants already residing at the bottom of said bucket. Further, they do not provide for minimizing or eliminating the effects of mop entry turbulence. Turbulence caused by mop entry in turn causes contaminants which have come out of solution and reside at the bottom of the bucket to reenter solution and thus recontaminate the mop. It should also be noted that buckets currently in use have flat bottoms. They, therefore, do not provide any means for facilitating the concentration and isolation of particulate material and other heavier than cleaning liquid contaminants away from the uncontaminated cleaning liquid.